There are numerous medical devices for inserting or injecting a substance into tissue or a body cavity. Such devices typically have an opening for releasing the substance into a body area substantially at the end of the device which first enters the body such as a conventional hypodermic needle when used for injections. Thus, the substance is released into the body area substantially about this first entry end of the device. Further, the substance is released generally in a flow in-line or parallel with the longitudinal axis of the body insertion portion of the device.
Such medical devices or applicators as described above have disadvantages which make them awkward to use in certain contexts. For example, if the substance to be dispensed into a body area must be positioned along a particular path, the applicator user is required to position the opening for releasing the contained substance concurrently and/or iteratively with the releasing of the substance. Further, the amount of the substance released at any time must also be controlled.
Therefore, it would be advantageous to have an applicator that is able to release a substance into a body area without the above mentioned disadvantages. In particular, it would be advantageous to have an applicator which, once positioned, is able to release a substance into a body area along a predetermined path without requiring repositioning and/or without requiring a user to exercise substantial control over the amount of the substance released along the path.